Hanna was walking back toward the farmhouse with Abbas and Nadiya when she sensed that something was amiss and jogged to get there more quickly. Where was Marissa? Hadn't Hanna just heard her call off the hit over the radio? But then there had been only silence. It couldn't be… she couldn't lose Marissa like she'd lost her mother and father. Not now.
She burst through the door of the cabin, gun drawn, but stopped short. Her eyes grew wide as she stepped inside the kitchen, saw Gordon dead on the floor and Marissa standing with a woman who looked exactly like… Marissa.
"What is going on?" Hanna chose her words carefully.
"Have you ever seen this woman before? She claims to know about you, but I don't know what to believe." Marissa asked. "I mean, besides the obvious."
Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I told you who I was. That Gordon sent me to kill you but I couldn't bring myself to kill my own sister. Of course I know about Hanna. She's only been your whole life for a long time now."
Marissa ignored Alex, turning to Hanna instead. "Hanna, have you seen her anywhere?"
Hanna shook her head. Unshed tears tried to fall. She wiped them with the back of her hand. "I was afraid that the gunshot meant you were dead."
"No, honey, I'm fine." Marissa tried to smile in order to reassure the young woman.
Hanna glanced at Alex. "So what about…"
"I killed Brianna so I could call off the hit on Nadiya," Marissa explained. "Then she came in just as Gordon was going to take a shot at me. She retrieved the radio and sent the message. Now she's telling me that my mother has known about her all these years. I need someone I can trust to sort this out."
Three hours later, Marissa, Hanna and Alex joined Abbas and Nadiya at an upscale hotel in Vienna. Hanna insisted on staying with Marissa in order to protect her from any more surprises.
"You should call your mother," Hanna advised. "If she does know about Alex, this could help."
"I know," Marissa nodded. "This is so stupid, I don't back down from a challenge." She sat down on one of the hotel room beds and sighed. "It's just… this will change things. Forever."
"Do you want some privacy?" Hanna asked.
Marissa nodded. "Yes, please. I've not spoken to my mother in a while."
"Ok, I'll just be outside in the hallway," Hanna replied, raising her shirt to reveal the gun tucked in her jeans' waistband. "Tell me if you need anything. I'll say nothing about this to the others."
Marissa nodded. "Thank you, Hanna." Once the girl had closed the door behind her, she picked up the burner phone and dialed a number.
"Hello?" Anne Evans, the person whom Marissa could remember being the only source of comfort in her childhood and teenage years, however limited by her father's intimidation, spoke.
"Mom. It's me."
"Mary?" Her mother sounded shocked, but not unpleasantly so.
Marissa swallowed hard. "It's Marissa. The way Gordon uses that other name, it's awful."
"I'm sorry. Marissa," Anne corrected herself. "Are you all right? I know that you can't say much about what you're doing."
"I'm ok, Mom. There's something I want to ask you. Do - do I have a sister? Besides Trace? A twin, maybe?" The words were hard to articulate without falling apart.
There was silence on the other end for a moment. "What did Gordon say to you?"
"It wasn't Gordon," Marissa said. "Gordon's dead. He was trying to kill me but then she - Alex - came in and killed him instead. Who is she, Mom?"
"She is your sister. I wish there was another way that you could have found out about her, Marissa. Just know I love you the same as I love Trace."
"What do you mean, Mom? Of course you love me as much as Trace. I always knew that."
Anne paused. "I never wanted to tell you this, Marissa. But I'm not your biological mother. You and Alex are twins and you were the result of an affair Gordon had a few years after we were married. I didn't think I could have children, then one day he brought you home and I didn't question it. I wanted to be a mother so badly and I fell in love with you when I first saw you. No matter what, you're my daughter."
"Your daughter," Marissa echoed. "I thought you said there were two of us."
"No," Marissa's mother said. "He brought you alone, told me you were a twin but your sister had died shortly after being born. Only years later did Gordon tell me the truth. He was drunk, making fun of me for believing his lies. Apparently Alex was in Europe, raised by her biological mother."
Marissa's hands began to shake. "Did he say who that was?"
"No." Her mother sighed. "Just that he left her behind to turn her into some kind of soldier. I'm so sorry, Marissa, I wish I could tell you more. That's all I know."
"It's ok, Mom. Thank you for telling me all of this. I have to go now. Love you." She pressed the disconnect button, not wanting to cry during the conversation.
Just as she had predicted, Marissa's world had changed forever with one conversation.